This book shows readers the nature of Christian faith by exploring how the gospel was originated, formed, and developed. As author Yoseop Ra demonstrates, the Christian faith began to develop during the conflict between Paul and the Jerusalem apostles, while the redemptive death of Jesus Christ on the cross, the core of the gospel, was made through theological interpretation and spiritual confession. The Origin and Formation of the Gospel offers new interpretations based on a profound analysis of sources. First, author Yoseop Ra shows Q to have been redacted four times. Second, he identifies the original form of the first Christian gospel and separates Paul's seven genuine epistles into sixteen letters. Finally, Ra offers an analysis of four Gospels and other writings to argue that the redemptive role of the cross was introduced as a breakthrough on the part of Paul to overcome the Jerusalem apostles, identifying the kingdom of God as the garden of Eden. Yoseop Ra is the pastor of the Clear Water Church. He was Assistant Professor of New Testament at Youngnam Theological University and Seminary. He earned his PhD from the Joint Program of University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology in 1997. He is the author of Matthew: A Scribe for the Kingdom of Heaven (2001), Q: The First Writing about Jesus (2002), and Paul: The Founder of Christianity (2011) in Korean.
